A federal appeals court Friday ruled that Mississippi’s election law, which allows mail-in ballots to be mailed up to five days after Election Day, is illegal because voters must vote before Election Day.

Mississippi is one of 18 states that allow mail-in ballots to arrive after Election Day, if they are postmarked by November 5. by The Hill. The order has now been sent back to a lower court to determine whether the Mississippi statue will be blocked immediately or if it is too late for the statue to be changed for the 2024 election.

The three-judge panel said Congress and federal law set a single deadline for elections, and that day is the day ballots must be cast and received by election officials.

“Federal law requires voters to take timely action to vote before Election Day,” Circuit Judge Andrew Oldham wrote for the panel. “Federal law does not permit the State of Mississippi to extend the voting period by one day, five days, or 100 days. State law to the contrary is preempted.”

The decision comes as election officials warn that mail-in voting could face delays due to problems with the United States Postal Service. Most states require ballots to be cast before Election Day in order to be counted, and 10 states require votes to be cast no later than seven days after the election if they are postmarked at time.

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said that he is “confident” that the Postal Service is prepared for the election, and Postal Service records show that about 99.8% of ballots were delivered within seven days in 2020, and 99.9 % were in 2022.

Misty Severi is an evening reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on for more coverage.